Bow Legs In Babies – Everything You Need To Know

As a parent, you love witnessing all of your baby’s milestones. Isn’t what your child do is the cutest of all other things in this world? One such milestone that you look forward to with much anticipation and excitement is your baby’s first steps and eventual walking.

But what if, as your baby takes those first steps, you notice your baby with bowed legs? Mommies, breathe easy! Just so you know, it is absolutely normal for your baby to have bowed legs.

What Is The Bowed Leg Condition?

When a baby is diagnosed with bowed legs, his knees stay wide apart when standing on the ankles and feet.

This results from the curled up position inside your womb.

This condition generally resolves when your baby is around 6 months to a year old.

Role Of Your Physician:

The technical term used for bowing is genu varum, where genu means knee and varum means angles-in. Your physician can help you in the following way:

He shall determine if the bowed legs in your baby is a part of his developing process or because of any disease.

In case of physiological bowing, it generally improves as your baby grows.

In case of pathological bowing or bowing due to disease the conditions worsen with time.

Under normal circumstances the bowed legs correct by the time your baby reaches 5 or 6 years.

What Causes A Baby To Be Bow Legged?

Bowed legs are a result of different alignment of your baby’s bones in course of growth. Here are some of the causes behind bowed legs baby:

In very rare cases, bow legs result from vitamin D deficiency or rickets. However, there is no need to worry about this, as less than 1% of the children tend to have bow legs because of this.

Blount’s Disease can also result in bow legs. This is an abnormal growth of the shin or tibia bone.

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons states that it sometimes becomes very difficult to distinguish the Blount’s Disease from bowed legs that are normal. It is only when your child reaches the third year that you can ascertain the abnormalities with an x-ray.

Baby bow legs are very normal. It in fact become more noticeable, when your baby starts walking.

So moms, just relax and enjoy watching your baby grow. You should be worried only if you see the bones in his legs curved unequally. Inform your doctor if the curves worsen with time. See if your baby cries while walking. You must inform the doctor if you find the bow legs are troubling your little one in any way.

Moms share with us how you helped your baby take his first steps in the comment section below.